Acoustical device



y 1961 J. F. ROSE ACOUSTICAL DEVICE Filed Sept. 2, 1960 INVENTOR JOHN F. Ross BY RTTORNEYS 2,991,333 i ACOUSTICAL DEVICE 1 JO I FL Rose, Minneapolis, Minn., assignorto Maico Electronics, Inc., Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation of;

innesota r 3 Filed Sept. 2, 1960, Ser. No. 53,708

5 Claims. (Cl.179----107) invention relates to hearing aids and more particularly relates to hearing aids of the type which employ a sound tube between the ;hearing aid and the persons 1 It will; be understood that if aperson is requiredto continuouslyweara hearing aid, the hearing aid ought to be fitted as well as possible to that particular person.

improved hearing aid of simple and inexpensive construction and operation; I

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel United States Patent relation with respect to the casing 17.

hearing aid of the type to be worn behind a persons ears which can be easily fitted or adapted to fit conveniently on the ear of any of a number of persons who have ears of a variety of shapes and sizes.

A further object of my invention is the provision of an improved and novel behind the ear type of hearing aid which, may, depending upon the desires or limitations of the person being fitted with the hearing aid, be adapted to be worn in a number of different positions behind the ear so as to provide for the greatest comfort and accessto controls as well as to provide for maximum concealment of the hearing aid.

These and otherobjects and advantages of my invention will more fully appear from the following descrip' or similar parts throu'ghout the several.views,: and in which:

shown partly in section for clarity" of detail;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the invention with the sound transmitting tube and fitting therefor being removed;

FIG. 3 is a detailed section view taken at approximately 3-3 in FIG. 2 showing a modified form of sound transmitting tube and fitting.

One form of the present invention is shown in the drawings and is described herein. The hearing aid is indicated in general by numeral 10 and includes an elongate housing 11 which is ordinarily oriented in a generally upright position when it is disposed behind a persons ear. It will be understood that the housing 11 as viewed from its top in FIG. 2 is substantially smaller than is shown in the drawings so that the width of the housing will permit the hearing aid to be worn without annoying the helix of the persons ear. The housing contains a transistorized amplifier circuit and in the drawings a number of the circuit components are shown in dotted lines and are indicated by the letter C. An outwardly extending lever 12 facilitates outward swinging of the battery drawer and a volume control 13 also protrudes from the rear side of the housing for manual manipulation.

A receiver 14 is also provided for producing sound in response to the signal amplified in the circuit, and in the form shown the receiver 14 has a generally circular shape and has a radially protruding spout 15 on the side- Patented July 4, 1961 wall thereof for delivering sound i a radially outward r direction. Thereceiver 14-.is; connected as by.wires'1 6 into'the amplifying circuitry.-

I p Y I Thereceiver 14is confined within a generally circular; receivercasing or carriage 17 which has a substantially cylindrical peripheral sidewall 18 and-has a bottom ,end;

- wall 19 and a cover 20 Wl'liGhfdQfiIlCS the; other casing:

conical or frustroconical in shape. A hollowspo'utreceiving boss 23 is provided on thesidewall 18"and re--; ceives the sound-discharging spout ;1S' of the receiver therein; A soft rubber sleeve-shaped'cushion 24 is disposed within the boss 2.3 in surrounding relationswith'. the spout 15 to hold the spout in predetermined positionl and prevent vibrating of the spout against the boss .23. Soft rubber cushions ,25 312K126 are also respectively; disposed between the receiver 14 and the cover 20fand; bottom wall 19 to maintain the receiver in cushioned The casing 17 is provided with internally threaded bushings 27 in the. cover and bottomendwall thereof, and screws 28 extend through the housing sidewalls and into the threaded bush-j ings 27 for swingably mounting the casing or carriage 17 in the enlarged opening orjaperture 29 in the upper; end of the housingll. The cylindrical sidewall, 18 is; provided with an opening 18a whichis at a position substantially opposite the boss 23 to permit the wires 16 to extend therethrough to the amplifying circuitry.

It will be seen in FIG. 1 that the casing 17 may oriented in any of a plurality of positions between then means includes a pairof stops 30 and 31 on the cover,

i tion, made in connection with'the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to the same ing 11.

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the invention and 20 which extend a short distance axially outwardly from: the surface 22. The stops 30 and31 are positionedto: confront and engage the interior abutment surfaces 32;;- and 33 respectively which are integral with the hous:;.

In FIGS, 1 and 3,*a pair of different types of adapters l are shown for attachment to a resilient, flexible plastics sound tube-34 and a rigidplastic soundtube 35 respec-j tively The outerendfof bossj2.3 is externally threaded? and is also provided with a sound-transmitting aperture opening 2.3a. In FIG. 1 the adapter 36 is threaded onto the boss 23 and is provided with a generally conically shaped head portion 37 with a diminished neck 38 spaced from the outer end and the plastic resilient tube 34 is pushed over the head 37 until the end thereof is disposed in the neck 38. The hearing aid 10 is suspended from the helix of a persons ear by the tube 34.

In FIG. 3, the threaded end of boss 23- has adapter 39 threaded thereon which has a tube-receiving opening 40 in the end thereof into which the rigid plastic tube 35 is secured by means of a friction seat or by means of a slight amount of adhesive. In each of the adapters 3'6 and 39, the diaphragm walls 41 have sound-transmitting apertures 41a which are drilled to the desired size for tone control.

When the hearing aid 10 is being fitted to its user, the orientation of the casing 17 is adjusted so that the housing 11 fits most comfortably behind the persons ear. In certain instances, the casing 17 is oriented substantially in the full line position shown in FIG. 1. In other instances, depending upon the shape of the persons ear, the casing 17 is oriented so that the boss 23 will assume the dotted position shown in FIG. 1, in which case the sound transmitting tube will extend almost directly up- 3 wardly and then over the helix so that the end of the sound tube may be fitted into the ear canal.

It will be understood that although the present invention is described in connection with hearing aids of the type to be worn behind the ear, the invention could as well be incorporated in the temple member of eyeglass hearing aids or might be employed in a hearing aid which is provided with a clamp to be held in a womans hair. Depending upon various factors involved, it may be desirable to have the sound tube extend from the amplifier housing in various angles. 1

It will, of course, be understood that various changes maybe made in the form, detail, arrangement and proportion of the parts without departing from the scope of my invention which consists of the matter described herein and set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A hearing aid to be worn behind a persons ear, comprising an elongated housing to be normally oriented in an upright position between the ear helix and the persons head, said housing having an upper end with an enlarged opening therein, a hearing aid circuit carried by said housing and including a receiver having a sound-emitting spout projecting upwardly therefrom, a sound transmitting tube to deliver sound to the ear canal, a carriage swingably mounting the receiver in the housing and adjacent said opening with said spout disposed above the upper end of the housing, said carriage also mounting one end of said tube in stationary soundreceiving relation with said spout, whereby to permit orientation of the spout and sound tube at any of a number of oblique anglesin order to cause the aid to most conveniently fit ears of a variety of shapes and sizes.

2. A hearing aid to be worn behind a persons ear, comprising an elongated housing to be normally oriented in an upright position between the ear helix and the persons head, said housing having an upper end with an enlarged opening therein, a hearing aid circuit carried by said housing and including a receiver having a sound outlet, a sound transmitting tube to deliver sound to the ear canal, a shell closing said opening in the housing and having a peripheral portion exteriorly exposed through said opening and overlying and holding the receiver, a'peripheral portion of the shell having a sound transmitting opening in alignment with the sound outlet of the receiver, means on said peripheral portion of the shell securing the sound tube in alignment with the opening, and means rotatably mounting the shell in the housing to permit limited rotation of said peripheral portion fore and aft extending side walls, a hearing aid, circuit carried by said housing and including a generally cylindrical receiver with a sound-emitting spout projecting outwardly the peripheral wall thereof, a sound transmitting tube to deliver sound to the ear canal, a hollow receiver-enclosing casing having a substantially cylindrical side wall and end walls, the peripheral wall of the casing having an outwardly projecting spout-receiving boss with means thereon securing one end of said sound tube in sound-receiving relation with said receiver spout, the end walls of said casing confronting the side walls of the housing and a portion of said peripheral wall ineluding said boss exteriorly exposed at said opening, a pivot means mounting said casing end walls on the housing side walls, and conductor means extending through the casing periphery and within the housing and connecting the receiver with the other portions of the hearing air circuit.

4. The invention setforth in claim 3 and including a plurality of spaced stops on the casing and housing in abuttable relation with respect to each other to limit rotation of the casing and receiver whereby to facilitate orientation of the sound transmitting tube to conveniently fit ears of a variety of shapes and sizes.

5. A hearing aid to be worn on a persons head, comprising a housing having an enlarged opening therein, a hearing aid circuit carried by said housing including a receiver having a sound outlet, 2. sound-transmitting tube to deliver sound to the ear canal, a shell closing said opening in the hou'sing and having a peripheral portion exteriorly exposed through said opening and overlying and holding the receiver, a peripheral portion of the shell having a sound-transmitting opening in alignment with the sound outlet of the receiver, means on said peripheral portionof the shell securing the sound tube in alignment with the opening, and means rotatably mounting the shell in the housing to permit limited rotation of said peripheral portion to permit the sound tube to be oriented at various positions with respect to the housing.

No references cited. 

